Researchers will evaluate if community-led food markets can improve access to affordable and nutritious food in lower income households in Glasgow. Through this study the researchers will compare an intervention group (areas of Glasgow with market) pre-and post- market, as well as to a comparator group (areas of Glasgow with no market), to see if the food market intervention improves access to affordable and nutritious foods. The main questions it aims to answer are: * If community-led food markets increase per-person food purchase of fruits, vegetables, fish and fibre-rich products * If community-led food markets improve dietary intake of fruit and vegetables, fish and fibre-rich products The study will also incorporate a process and economic evaluation of the market stalls.
Socioeconomic deprivation and individual and place deprivation are major drivers of poor diet and ill health in urban households across the UK. Food choices are shaped by the local food environment, culture, individual preferences, and economic and physical accessibility. Solutions to improve access and diet need multi-component approaches. Local food system transformation that facilitates access to sustainable diets that are affordable, nutritious, culturally acceptable, and derived through a people-centred approach is needed to address diet inequalities and promote health. This entails a systems approach with community and local stakeholders participating in the design and delivery of solutions to increase acceptance, participation, engagement and long-term sustainability. Through a broad partnership in Glasgow supported by Glasgow University and local food organisations, two low-income areas of Glasgow have been selected to establish a weekly community-led food market stalls; Govan and Cranhill. The intention is that the implementation of these food market stalls will improve community members' access to nutritious food. The market stalls will be launched one at a time, developed in consultation with their local communities to ensure that they are appropriate to local needs and circumstances. The market stalls will operate on Saturdays and will run over 6 months each, focusing on providing affordable nutrient-rich foods and increasing exposure and familiarisation to raw ingredients. At one of the markets we will also incorporate food-related art performances and food information activities (e.g. cooking demonstrations) to support participant engagement and food literacy skills. This study is an impact-, process- and economic- evaluation of the two community-led food market stalls, to explore if they are a viable intervention to improve access to affordable and nutritious food in these communities and enable households to meet dietary targets for fruit, vegetables, oily fish and fibre. We will measure the impact of these food markets to generate evidence to inform expansion of this concept to other localities in Glasgow and beyond. Using a quasi-experimental approach, we will compare an intervention group with a comparator group (areas of Glasgow with no market), pre-and post- market intervention. We will measure participant food purchases, eating behaviours, food literacy and markers of general health and wellbeing at time points (pre- and post- market intervention). We will do this using questionnaires, 24h diet recall and a 7-day food purchasing diary. In addition we will record market attendance and engagement.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
300
Affordable food market stalls set up in Govan and Cranhill, Glasgow. We will also incorporate food-related art performances and food information activities (e.g. cooking demonstrations) at the market to support participant engagement and food literacy skills.
University of Glasgow
Glasgow, United Kingdom
RECRUITINGChange from Baseline in the per-person purchase (portions/week) of fruits, vegetables, oily fish and fibre-rich products at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by a 7 day food purchasing diary.
Participants will complete a 7 day food purchasing diary before (baseline) and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Number of purchased portions of fruits, vegetables, fish and fibre-rich products per week will be compared.
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Change from Baseline in the per-person purchase (portions/week) of fruits, vegetables, oily fish and fibre-rich products at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by a food purchasing frequency questionnaire.
Participants will complete a food purchasing frequency questionnaire using an ordinal data scale before and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Number of purchased portions of fruits, vegetables, fish and fibre-rich products will be compared.
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Change from Baseline in the per-person dietary intake (portions/day) of fruits, vegetables, oily fish and fibre (g/day) at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by a food intake frequency questionnaire.
Participants will complete a food intake frequency questionnaire using an ordinal data scale before and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Number of portions per day of fruits, vegetables, oily fish and fibre (g/day) will be compared.
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Change from Baseline in the per-person dietary intake (portions/day) of fruits, vegetables, oily fish and fibre (g/day) at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by an interviewer led 24h diet recall.
Participants will complete an interviewer led 24h diet recall before and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Number of portions per day of fruits, vegetables, oily fish and fibre (g/day) will be compared.
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Change from Baseline in participant food shopping frequency habits and food sourcing locations at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by a food shopping frequency questionnaire.
Participants will complete a questionnaire on food shopping frequencies at various food retail outlets using an ordinal data scale before and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Shopping frequency (visits/week) at various food retail outlets will be compared.
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Change from Baseline in participant expenses (£/week) on food shopping at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by a 7 day food purchasing diary.
Participants complete a 7 day food purchasing diary before (baseline) and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Food shopping expenses (£/week) will be compared.
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Change from Baseline in participant expenses (£/week) on food shopping at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by a participant estimate of weekly expenditure.
Participants will complete a question on estimated weekly expenditure (£) on food shopping using an ordinal data scale before and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Food shopping expenses (£/week) will be compared.
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Change from Baseline in participant food literacy at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by the "sustainable food literacy" questionnaire.
Participants will complete a questionnaire sustainable food literacy using a Likert scale before and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Food literacy levels will be compared.
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Change from Baseline in participant food security status at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by the FAO Food Insecurity Experience Scale.
Participants will complete the FAO Food Insecurity Experience Scale questionnaire before and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Levels of Food Insecurity will be compared.
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Change from Baseline in participant quality of life at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire.
Participants will complete the EQ-5D questionnaire before and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Quality of life as reported by their EQ-5D-5L index values will be compared.
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Change from Baseline in participant quality of life at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by the ICE-CAP A questionnaire.
Participants will complete the ICE-CAP A questionnaire before and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Quality of life as reported by their ICE-CAP A index values will be compared.
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Change from Baseline in participant health at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by BMI (kg/m^2).
Participants will report their height (m) and weight (kg) before and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Participant health as reported by their calculated BMI (kg/m\^2) will be compared (weight and height will be combined to report BMI in kg/m\^2).
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Change from Baseline in participant health at 6 Months after market stall intervention, as assessed by the Bristol Stool Chart.
Participants will report their stool type via the Bristol Stool Chart (types 1-7) before and 6 months after the market stall implementation. Participant health as reported by their stool type (1-7) will be compared.
Time frame: From enrolment until the end of the 6 month market intervention.
Process evaluation of the market stall intervention, as assessed by a participant survey.
A process evaluation will assess the implementation of the intervention in terms of participant satisfaction with the food prices, food variety, and quality of produce at the market stall intervention using market day surveys based on rating scales.
Time frame: Market day surveys will be done at each market stall during the 6 month intervention.
Process evaluation of the market stall intervention, as assessed by semi-structured interviews.
A process evaluation will assess the implementation of the intervention in terms of participant satisfaction with the food prices, food variety, and quality of produce at the market stall intervention using semi-structured interviews with market attendees.
Time frame: Semi-structured interviews will be done at the end of the 6 month market intervention.
An economic evaluation "Value for Money" of the market stall intervention will be assessed using cost-effectiveness analysis with a risk-adjusted net present value.
Cost-effectiveness will be assessed over a 12-month horizon using cost-per-primary outcome/QALY, and through a societal perspective. Longer-term cost-effectiveness will be modelled.
Time frame: This will be completed following the 6 month market intervention.
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